Brownies

On a snowy day, it makes sense to get some goodness in your tummy. My son and I decided to bake some brownies. 

I turned here and my brownie stash didn't find him anything he wanted to make, but he was on board with these brownies from Cravings of a Lunatic, which we found on Pinterest.

They came together really easily and are quite delicious. I don't know if they're "The Best Brownies in the World," but they are quite good. They even made me, someone who dislikes the taste of milk, craving a glass of milk to go alongside.

Give them a try; you'll be happy you did!

The Best Brownies in the World Via Cravings of a Lunatic

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons of butter
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs. beaten
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ¼ cup flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper. 
• Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together over low heat in a medium saucepan. Stir with a rubber/silicone spatula (I used my spoonula and it worked great!).
• Remove from heat and add the sugar. Stir well.
• Now add your eggs and vanilla, stirring until it’s smooth.
• Add chocolate chips, flour and vanilla salt. Stir until well blended.
• Pour into pan and place in oven. 
• Bake for 35-45 minutes, toothpick inserted should come out clean when done.
• Remove and cool on a rack, about 10 minutes.
• Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Recipe Swap: Buckeye Brownies

When it comes to brownies, I love the corner.  Yeah, the middle pieces are softer, but I like the crisp edges that comes with the corner pieces.

For this week's recipe swap theme of desserts, I was given Buckeye Brownies from Kickin it in the Kitch.

When I made the batter, I was VERY concerned; it was way thicker than brownie batters to which I am accustomed and I thought I must have missed an egg or something.  In reality, they were perfect!  Thick and rich and decadent, and I loved the soft layer made of condensed milk and peanut butter.  These were a big hit with me and my boys, and they'll be going in lunchboxes this week.

I considered doubling the recipe and making it in two pans so as to not have leftover condensed milk, which I might do next time, but this time I made the recipe as written and saved the milk in a jar in the fridge.

Thank you to Sarah for hosting another great swap and Stef for sharing a great recipe.  Apologies to both of you for the lateness of my post!

What about you; which part of the brownie pan is your favorite?

Buckeye Brownies
Source: Adapted from Cookies and Cups via Kickin it in the Kitch

Ingredients:
For the brownie portion (original recipe here)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/8 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/8 cups Dutch-process cocoa (regular cocoa is fine too)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup coarsely chopped peanuts

1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8x8 baking pan.

2. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine.

3. Crack 2 eggs into a large bowl, then beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla until smooth. Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

4. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Mix in the chopped peanuts.

5. Pour half of the brownie mixture into the pan.

6. Whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter. Spread over the brownie mixture in the pan.

7. Drop the remaining brownie mixture over the top of the peanut butter mixture and press down gently.

8. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Santa Hat Brownies

Over the weekend, we attended a Christmas in July party. The hostess was serious--we were NOT celebrating summer but rather the holidays; we all wished each other a Merry Christmas and Santa even made an appearance.

I had no idea what to bring, because it was to be a 100 degree day (so who would want to have a hot appetizer or Christmasy dessert?) but should be Christmas themed as well.  To make things slightly more difficult, I was planning to prepare the dessert at my parents' house, so wouldn't have all my normal tools.

A friend suggested this, which has been making the rounds of Pinterest.  I went lazy and used pre-made brownie bites and purchased frosting.  Lazy.

I'm not over-the-moon about how they turned out; I used a zipper sandwich bag with the corner cut off and the piping didn't come out at nicely as it should have.  They were, however, delicious, and flew off the table at the party!

Here's the original recipe, should you (or I!) want to make the brownies and frosting from scratch.

Santa Hat Brownies Source:  Daisy's World

Santa Hat Brownies
Yields 12-16 brownies
Ingredients:
1 pan of your favorite brownies, cooled and cut into desired size and shape (I used a round cutter)
12-16 small strawberries, cleaned and hulled
vanilla-mascarpone buttercream (recipe below)
Mascarpone Buttercream
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
2-1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of salt
Method:
Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter and mascarpone cheese until light and creamy, about 2 minutes.  Add vanilla extract and salt.  Add 2-1/2 cups of sugar, half a cup at a time and continue beating until smooth.  Add more sugar, if needed to reach desired consistency and sweetness.
To assemble, pipe a ring of vanilla buttercream on top of each brownie.  Cut off the base of a strawberry so it is flat and place it upside down on each brownie, pushing slightly to secure in place.  Top the tip of the strawberry with a dot of buttercream to finish the santa hat.
Adapted from this recipe found on Erica’s Sweet Tooth

S'mores Brownies

One of the first times my friend Lishie came to my house, she brought S'mores Brownies.  They were so very yummy and I begged for the recipe.  She then brought them to one of our large summertime parties and everyone went NUTS for them.  We finally got around to making them when my husband decided they would be the treat we sent into school to celebrate my son's fifth birthday!

He decided to skip the homemade brownie part and used a box mix (the brand of which I have no idea.  Trust me, homemade brownies take only a few minutes later, though the box kind was delicious too if you're short on time!)  I'm posting Lishie's original recipe, including the homemade brownies.

These were a huge hit; A's teacher said that EVERYONE loved them, from the five year olds to the teachers.  My husband and I pretty much were unable to stop "tasting" them and said five year olds and teachers almost didn't get any.  I digress.

Give these delicious and easy brownies a try!  And stop in a visit Lishie's blog and say howdy!

S'mores Bars Source:  Delish

• 1 & 1/2 sticks Butter, @ room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups crushed (food processor) graham crackers 
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 3 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

Pre-heat oven to 350°, grease or spray 13x9x2-inch baking pan (or two, 8x8 brownie pans). 

Beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together crushed graham crackers, flour, and salt. Stir the graham cracker mixture into the butter/sugar/egg/vanilla mixture. Should become one, big crumbly clump.

Press about 1/2 cup or more, if needed, of the graham cracker mix over the bottom of the greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Sprinkle half (1 cup) of the chocolate chips on top. Sprinkle 3 cups of the mini marshmallows on top. Crumble, by hand, the rest of the graham cracker mix on top. Sprinkle last 1/2 cup of the mini marshmallows on top and finally, sprinkle the rest (1 cup) of the chocolate chips on top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until brown.

 

Cookies and Cream ice cream

Several years ago, my in laws took us to a restaurant that featured a dessert called "Ice cream soup."  I suspect the creator was having an ice cream night like mine when she came up with the concept.  See, I haven't used my ice cream maker in some time... probably in at least a year... and kinda forgot how exactly to work it.  For whatever reason, the recipe came out like soup, through no fault of the recipe itself.  It's tasty soup, of that I assure you, and it's sitting in the freezer in hopes of freezing up and being more ice cream than soup.

I made this for the recipe swap, the theme of which was again "Secret Recipe Swap."  For such a swap, we are assigned a blog rather than a recipe, and can blog anything we find there.  I chose to make my favorite kind of ice cream, Cookies and Cream, which Jey received in another Swap from Melissa!

Ironically, cookies and cream is my favorite ice cream while I dislike the famous cookie that tends to be part of the cookie side of cookies and cream ice cream.

So, a picture is coming as soon as the soup is less soup-y.  Thanks to Sarah for hosting another swap and Jey for a great recipe and a great blog!

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Source: I Was Born to Cook   via The Jey of Cooking

• 2 Cups Whole Milk
• 2 Cups Heavy Cream
• 1 Cup Sugar, divided
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
• 5 Egg Yolks
• 12 Oreos

Whisk together the milk, cream, 1/2 cup sugar, salt and vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  Bring the mixture just to a boil.
While the mixture is heating, add the egg yolk and remaining 1/2 cup sugar to a medium bowl.  Whisk together until the mixture is pale and thick.
Whisking constantly, add about 1/3 of the hot mixture to the yolk/sugar mixture.  Repeat with another 1/3, then returned the combined base to the saucepan.
Stir constantly with a wooden spoon over low heat until it coats the back of the spoon.  Be careful not to boil or the yolks will overcook.  It should only take a few minutes.  Remove from heat and bring to room temperature.  Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours, or overnight.
When you are ready to make the ice cream, pulse the Oreos in a food processor until you achieve your desired crumb size.  Process and freeze the ice cream base according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Add the cookie crumbs 5 minutes before finishing.
Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer until your desired consistency is reached.

Caramel Banana Ravioli

This is a very late post for the recipe swap a group of friends participate in; this time around, the theme was dessert.  I submitted Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies.

If you're interested in what the results of the other recipes were, check out NJ Nesties' Best Recipes for the recipe roundup!




I received a recipe from Dana for Caramel Banana Ravioli, and oh wow, were they good.  I had a bit of trouble with the dough, so most of them turned into Caramel Banana Purses, but it doesn't much matter when they tasted as good as these do.  I almost drizzled these with hot fudge as well as the caramel, but decided not to at the last minute--I'm glad I didn't.  I figured there was both chocolate and caramel inside, so why not top it with both too, but I think it would have been overwhelming to have the chocolate outside as well as in.

If I hadn't had to fight so much with the dough, this would have been a super easy dessert recipe.  I'll most definitely be bringing it to some party we go to in the future, or maybe if we're entertaining!

Pictures coming soon!

CARAMEL-BANANA RAVIOLI

Ingredients:

2 Firm Medium Bananas

24 Pieces of Rolos (the chocolate covered caramel candy) or something similar

2 packages (8oz) refrigerated crescent rolls with no seams  (I had a hard time finding NO SEAM dough, which could by why I struggled so much)

1 tbsp sugar

1/3 cup of caramel sauce

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Brush a large pan with vegetable oil.  Slice bananas diagonally into twenty four 1/4 inch thick slices.  Cut caramels in half.

2. Unroll one package of dough onto bottom of pan, shape to form a rectangle.  (don't stretch.  dough shouldn't cover the entire pan)  Arrange banana slices over dough in four rows of six each, spacing approx 3/4 inch.  Top each banana slice with two caramel halves.  Unroll the remaining dough directly over the other and the filling, matching the edges of the two doughs.  Press firmly around each filling to seal.  Pinch together any tears.

3. Trim and discard edges of dough.  Cut into 24 raviolis. Separate the raviolis over the pan.  Sprinkle the sugar over the ravioli.  Bake about 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool for 2 minutes, and drizzle with caramel sauce.

Banana Caramel Whoopie Pies

Do you say it cahr-uh-mel or car-muhl?

We had plans to go to a Memorial Day party, and I was asked to bring a dessert.  I went to the internet and got some ideas.  When I told my husband about these ideas, he heard "whoopie pie," giggled, and said "Make those!"  I really hemmed and hawed, since they involved so many steps plus wouldn't have been cooking in my own kitchen.

But, I went for it anyway, and forced my husband to help.  Because, after all, I was only making these at his request.

So, they involved a lot of steps, took a lot of time, but otherwise were really EASY.  And they were AWESOME.  I took them to the party, and don't really know how folks liked them because we had to leave early with an unhappy baby, but WE loved them.  It was much like eating a banana pancake with deliciousness on top; I think they'd be even better with the addition of walnuts to the cookie part.

I wasn't happy with how the caramel sauce turned out; I think I overcooked the sugar a little bit, and on its own, it tasted...weird.  But in the whoopie pie, it was delicious!!

Another WIN from Annie's Eats! 

Banana Caramel Whoopie Pies

Yield: 30-36 sandwich cookies
Ingredients:
For the caramel sauce:
½ cup sugar
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
¼ tsp. coarse salt
½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup mashed banana (about 1-1½ bananas)
½ cup sour cream
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the filling:*
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1 tbsp. pieces, at room temperature
½ cup caramel sauce (above)

*This will make more filling/frosting than you actually need for this recipe (I had about 1 cup extra).  You could reduce to 2/3 or simply save for another use.

Directions:
To make the caramel sauce, spread the sugar out in an even layer in a medium skillet or saucepan over medium heat.  Once the sugar starts to liquefy around the edges, stir it gently with a spatula towards the center.  Continue stirring gently until all of the sugar is melted and no hard bits remain.  Once the caramel reaches a deep amber color, remove it from the heat.  (If you are using a dark pan, test a drop on a white plate or towel so you can accurately assess the color.)  Off the heat, carefully whisk in half of the cream.  The mixture will bubble and steam violently.  Stir until the cream is thoroughly combined, then whisk in the remaining cream.  Some of the sugar will likely have clumped up around the whisk.  Return the pan to medium-low heat and continue to whisk gently until everything is melted and smooth.  Stir in the salt and vanilla.  Remove from the heat and let cool.  (This sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and reheated.)

To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend, and set aside.  In a small bowl, combine the mashed banana and sour cream.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Blend in the egg and vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the banana mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Mix each addition just until incorporated.

Pipe the batter using a plain round tip onto the prepared baking sheets into 1¼-inch rounds, spacing a couple of inches apart.  Bake until the cookies are just set and the bottom edges are starting to brown, about 10-12 minutes.  Let cool on the baking sheets 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the filling, combine the egg whites and sugar in a large heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.  Heat the mixture, whisking very frequently, until the sugar is completely dissolved and reaches 160° F on an instant read thermometer.  Transfer the mixture to the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture holds stiff peaks.  Reduce the speed to medium low, add in the salt and begin adding the butter one piece at a time, beating well after each addition.  Stir in ½ cup of the cooled caramel sauce until well blended.

Once the cookies are completely cooled, match them up in pairs by size.  Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the caramel filling.  Pipe a dollop of filling onto the flat side of one cookie of each pair, and sandwich the cookies together, pushing the filling to the edges.  Store in an airtight container.

Source: caramel sauce slightly adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz, cookie from Martha Stewart, frosting from Half Baked, all via Annie's Eats

Kiss Pies

Looking for an individualized recipe for New Year's Eve, I went to the fabulous Picky Palate for inspiration.  The recipe seemed easy as...pie (groan)...  and her pictures were too darn cute.  Of course, I  had to make them.  I went to the Kisses website, and wanted to use either the cherry cordial or candy cane kisses, but my grocery store didn't have either of those.  I instead chose caramel filled kisses.


 

I'm pretty sure it was that choice that made these a disaster, since it looked like the caramel oozed out all over the place. 

They were pretty tasty, but not something I would rave and go nuts over.  I didn't even put them out for the kids to eat.

I might try these again, with a different kind of kiss; they are just so darn simple to make that if I can get them to turn out right, they'll be a great recipe to have in the back pocket.

To make it a little bit easier, I used a biscuit cutter to cut the dough around the kiss.

Kiss Pies

1 refrigerated pie crust, thawed
14 Hershey Kisses of choice, I used Mint Truffle today
1 egg white whisked with 1 Tbsp water
Powdered sugar for dusting
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Roll out pie dough onto a lightly floured counter top.  Place 10 kisses around the edges of pie dough, about 2 1/2 inches apart (as in the photo above).  Take a knive and cut a 2 1/2-3 inch circle around kiss.  Fold half of pie dough around top of dough and pinch edge around top of kiss.  (See Photo, step 1).  Now, fold up both sides of remaining dough up to the tip of the kiss pinching edge.  (See Photo, step 2).  Now press together edges and form criss cross as shown in photo, step 3. * *Continue cutting dough around kisses until all dough is used up. 
2.  Brush all little pies with an egg white wash then sprinkle with granulated sugar.  Bake for 20-28 minutes or until little pies are golden.  Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.  Dust each with powdered sugar and serve.
about 14 little pies.

Appetizer night

We are hosting another appetizer night tonight. We get together with friends of BAJ's from high school about once a month...sometimes we stay in, sometimes we go out. The past time we got together that we "hosted," we did an appetizer night, with much success (See here) so we decided to do the same again.

I've already made Minty Lime Freeze, from Kraft Foods. I obviously haven't had it prepared, but did sneak a taste of the whipped topping, and it was yummy.

Since I have a LOT of mint leftover, I'll also make mojitos, which I've never had before... what better time than now!

I'm also making Is It Really Better Than Sex? Cake by Paula Deen, which I have made previously with success.

Finally, I'm making Crab Rangoon, which I LOOVE when we go to PF Chang's.

Apple Galette with Cider Drizzle

I got this from Everyday with Rachael Ray, but it can also be found here. I made this to take to a friend's house, and completely left the cider drizzle at home. Ugh. Anyway, this was really good. I took the suggestion to serve it with vanilla ice cream, which was a perfect touch. Our friends raved about how good it looked and smelled and tasted.

I was reading the directions rather than looking at the picture, and didn't really load the thing up with apples. I'll definitely do that next time, if only so I don't have so much waste!

BAJ wasn't thrilled with this, but I told him I'll make it again--I have to use up the second puff pastry AND we have to try it with the drizzle. Plus, we're planning to go apple picking soon, so I'll need some ways to use them up.

I had this the next day for breakfast, too, and it was very good then too!